Questionnaire-Based Study On Post Anaesthesia Visits In Tertiary Hospital

Background In recent years, significant advancements in anesthesiology have led to better healthcare services and a reduction in surgical complications.1 While much research has been conducted on the practical application of anesthesia, little attention has been given to patient satisfaction.2 According to recent reports, only 22% of anesthesiologists provide post-anesthesia visits on a daily or weekly basis. However, studies show that hospitals that offer post-anesthesia visits tend to have higher patient numbers, indicating the importance of this service. Anesthesiologists who do not perform post-anesthesia visits often cite reasons such as lack of time, patient dismissal, or lack of interest.3 But by providing this service, anesthesiologists can improve patient satisfaction and ensure that patients receive the best possible care. I selected this study to investigate the reasons for the lack of post-operative visits Materials and Methods: In this study, a questionnaire of 11 questions was sent via email to consultant anaesthetists and anaesthesia post graduates of different medical colleges across India, after obtaining consent from the participants. These questions were prepared on a google form. The questionnaire was sent to 10 anaesthesiologists who have validated it and the Cronbach’s alpha for the questionnaire is 0.82. Results: The practice of PAVs among anesthesiologists was assessed and observed that 57.3% of the anesthesiologists do not practice PAVs, and 42.6% reported that they perform PAVs.The majority of the anesthesiologists who do not practice PAVs reported that lack of time the most common reason for not performing PAVs regularly (80.4%) followed by long distances to the patients to be covered (19.6%), patients already discharged (18.6%) extensive search (17.5%) and others (13.4%). Conclusion: It is observed that most anesthesiologists do not practice PAVs. However, post-anesthesia visits by anesthesiologists are highly appreciated, and they play an essential role in detecting postoperative complications.